With the improvement in living standards, our requirements for clothing are not only on the basic warm-keeping function of the clothing but also on the wearing comfort. Although conventional clothes made of pure cotton tend to have better sweat absorption properties, they tend to retain the sweat in the fabric layer next to the skin, giving wearer an uncomfortable feeling of wet and cold after exercise. It thus becomes an objective of the field to develop a type of fabric which possesses excellent moisture management function.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,782 discloses a multi-layer fabric having moisture management function which comprises a thicker inner layer composed of hydrophobic fiber having good water permeability; a thinner middle hydrophilic layer and a thicker outer hydrophilic layer. Due to the hydrophobic nature of the inner layer, water can be transported to outer layer very quickly without having to stay in the inner layer and thereby brings a better feeling to wearers. This invention has a disadvantage in that, unless the garment is tightly fitted to the body and sweat is transmitted through the inner hydrophobic layer, the sweat will stay on or drip down along the skin surface, as the hydrophobic inner layer does not absorb liquid sweat,
U.S. Pat. No. 6,432,504 discloses a composite fabric having moisture management function. It transports water on skin to outer layer through the capillary action and this composite fabric comprises an inner hydrophilic layer formed of a thicker fiber and an outer hydrophilic layer formed of a thinner fiber. However, by having fibers of different fineness in the inner and outer layer, the liquid transport function of this fabric is very much limited.
Although the fabrics disclosed in the above-mentioned two patent documents possess certain level of moisture management function, their liquid water transport property is very much limited.